Only in SF and CA

I do applaud the his rehabilitation and drive to succeed...

Ex-Con cashes in on "Prison Fantasies"
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2007/04/30/onthejob.DTL

Mission Peaks

Hiked Mission Peaks in Milpitias with Dale (Lexington) & Dexter (Cebu)


Whew, that was quite a hike! 3 miles up hill then 3 miles down hill. It was freakin hot too. Somewhere around 80 I think. I wasn’t sure Dexter was going to make it being all sleep deprived and all. But he did!


Views were pretty but definitely not the Ocean views I love so much. The Sunset was very pretty though. It was amazing the amount of hills to the East of the Bay Area. You know the land is hilly but seeing it is something else.


Because of the warm temperature we saw several reptiles: 2ft long rattlesnake, garden snake, lizard, and we missed a king snake seen by fellow hikers. The squirrels were these squirrel-prairie dog hybrid looking creatures. And the cows that have free roaming of the “Open Space” land were cautiously curious. The bull I took a picture of had a humongous head!

After our hike we headed to Santana Row in San Jose for dinner. It’s supposed to be the *place-to-go* in SJ. Well it seemed that way. High end shops and restaurants. Setup reminded me of Lincoln Road in Miami. The big surprise was Santana Row was like *Plastic* City. I thought for a minute I was in LA. We’re not in San Francisco anymore Toto.

Anyway, it was great seeing Dale and Dexter. Enjoy the photos.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/picturesofsharon/sets/72157600160962831/

Medication working...?

The Adderall caused confusion and memory loss, opposite the desired effect. So the Psychiatrist switched me to Ritalin. The first two days on 5mg I had nausea, headache, and mild panic attacks. I read on the Internet that it may take 2 weeks for the side effects to go away and to see the positive results, like focus, and to increment stimulant meds slowly so the body adjusts.

After taking a day off I backed down to 2.5 mg of Ritalin taken after lunch. The negative side effects went away but I didn't feel focused either. So I continued taking 2.5 mg daily after lunch. Then Thursday evening I had an epiphany! Wednesday night I had cleaned and organized all evening. Thursday I had catered from 5-9pm and on the way home I thought "Oh, I have time to walk the dogs on the beach, I still have 2 hrs before bedtime". Then the thought struck me! I had two netflicks at home, usually after two busy evenings in a row I would need to collapse in front of the TV for the next 1-2 evenings otherwise I'd feel extremely tired and stressed. And the thought of having 3 busy evenings in a row would bring about a complete sense of being overwhelmed in the past. I feel "better" and don't need to have a lot of "down time" after a busy evening(s).

I plan on raising the dose to 5mg this week to see if the nausea and headaches return. If they do I'll back down to 2.5 mg for the 2nd week and see if I have more focus after a couple of weeks on the 2.5mg.

I've also been hitting the gym at lunch for the rowing machine. I think it is really helping my shoulders : )

Organic Pottery

Organic Pottery, need I say more?? I actually like the short fat ones : )

http://sanfrancisco.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/042507/designer/sara-paloma-designer-021245

Horse news

Photos of Ranchs so far... (click on the set to see all pics)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/picturesofsharon/sets/



So far the farms in the Bay Area of California are very different then KY (or MI, WI, MN). There is not much pasture around here. Mostly because of hills and maybe the price of land. Further East you find large pastures but that is an hour drive away.

I’ve concentrated on the area directly to the North and South of SF. North I have to cross over the Golden Gate bridge which costs $5. *Most* farms have access to trails either by the ocean or an open space preserve. I may check out a few farms over in East Bay but I prefer the West because it’s closer to the Ocean and more temperate.

Marin (to the North)
MeadowBrook Farm is very nice with decent size “pasture” paddocks. Indoor/Outdoor arenas. No access to trails and board is fairly price, 600+ is what I heard, haven’t called yet. Would be a good place to start if I can’t find a decent place by trails. 30 min from my house. Lots of kids who show.


Dickson Ranch is a trail riding stable. Looks run down. No pasture only stalls with paddocks/runs. Indoor/Outdoor arenas. Great trail access! Dogs allowed on most trails. $360 includes feed & paddock cleaning. Ruled out due to no pasture. Lots of kids and relaxed people. 30 min from my house.



Creekside Ranch is very nice with paddock size pastures. Other stalls only have “runs”. Some horses only know this kind of life and have a hard time adjusting to “pasture”. Hard to imagine! Indoor/Outdoor arenas. Great trail access! $340 includes feed & paddock cleaning. People seem a lot more uptight from my brief visit… More of an older women show barn… Best Candidate so far in Marin and 30 min from my house.


Half Moon Bay -Peninsula (to the South along the coast)
Moss Beach Ranch looks run down but it was very clean. Seems to have large pastures…I will revisit and walk into the pastures more (up the hill really). Can access trails to open space or beach, bonus. Only outdoor arena. Not sure about dogs on open space. 35 min from house. Only downside, there was an outbreak of EHV-1 (neurogenic form of herpes) at two farms in area. Third farm was under quarantine for precaution and it is right next Moss Beach Ranch. However it looks nice too… Anyway, the outbreak appears to be over and these things happen even to the nicest best kept farms. Moss Beach is a serious contender because it’s pastures seem to be the biggest!



Will visit more “Half Moon Bay” farms soon…

EHV-1 outbreak
http://www.smcmsar.org/ehv1.html

For the Detective enthusiast or just Veronica Mars Fan...

Fascinating article on armature and volunteer detective work for missing persons...also, Kudos for KY on taking the lead...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6583129.stm

I've said it before...I LOVE the BBC...

Horse boarding

I hit the jackpot today finding horse boarding facilities in Marin (North Bay). Stopped by a few farms and were refereed to more. Found some referrals in tack shops including a great pamphlet with names and numbers of farms. I've called a few and may visit them tomorrow and take pictures. One farm said their riders take dogs on trails : ) but they only had paddocks, not pasture : ( I think if I had to choose between pasture or dogs&paddocks, I'd choose the pasture for Vikki. I'd feel a little more comfortable taking the dogs on trail vs riding trail alone though.

I did visit a farm in the peninsula on Wednesday eve. It was okay, clean but crowded. Next weekend I will try to find more places south of SF on the pacific side of the peninsula.

Interesting SF experience

I was letting dogs out one moment and the next I noticed everyone was blowing the stop sign by my apartment. Upon closer inspection, there was a sport motorcycle in the intersection waving all the cars through the stop sign. I looked to see if it was a cop motorcycle, thinking it was a funeral. But no, it was just a regular sport bike. However, the guy was wearing a neon vest that said funeral. So do you hire guys on motorcycles to do this? I thought it was a cop thing to escort a funeral procession. I guess it was just a big city thing!

Pizza

Today I had the best "Traditional" pizza in the bay area! Zachery's Pizza in Berkley known for their Chicago style pizza. I've had their Chicago style pizza and it is unlike any pizza I've personally had around Chicago. But their "thin" crust which is on the thin side of regular crust was Great! The tomato sauce has chunks of tomato in it.
http://www.zacharys.com/

Now for non-traditional pizza I do really like Pizza Orgasmica. The Aphrodite is my favorite!
http://www.pizzaorgasmica.com/

Cognition enhancing drugs (Modafinil/Provigil)

These have been in news recently but the cool thing is that they are prescribed off-label for ADD. So far the Adderall is making me very confused and tired. Not the reaction I want! There are several more stimulant meds to try but I will ask my Doc about the Provigil. I have heard a couple of people who are on Adderall and Provigil in combination.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6558871.stm


Some good panic attack coping techniques that seem to help me vs the ones that emphasize relaxing and staying still which only escalate my symptoms.
http://www.panic-anxiety.com/anxiety-tips.asp

Mussel Bake

Saturday I went to a Mussel bake on a beach near Santa Cruz. On the lowest tide of the month you can access all these rocks the mussels live on. You have to pry them off the rock and then boil them. The tastiest ones are around 3-4 inches long.



It was a blast! However, neither me nor the girls liked the taste of the mussels. And the girls will eat just about anything = ) I also was able to see many starfish and sea anemone!



http://www.flickr.com/photos/picturesofsharon/sets/72157600086508083/

Good Tax News...

A friend had told me that moving expenses can be claimed if employeed with-in 3 months of the move. So, I checked it out on turbotax.com and that was indeed true. In total, I'm getting around 25% of my moving expenses back. Expenses covered were: truck & trailer, gas, & lodging. Better then nothing!

Losing Kentucky Accent???

So last night Chigo said I was losing my Kentucky accent. Yet he would not tell me what I was saying different! I think he's making it up!

Chair massage

After having some regular massage lately...I've decided that I like the chair massage best. The traditional massage, of laying on either your back or stomach, does seem to relax my muscles but does not relieve stress. However, the chair massage relieves stress, relaxes my muscles, and I feel better physically after.

I think it is an alignment issue with my shoulders. Laying down on my stomach for a traditional back massage makes my shoulders roll forward causing further strain on my tight trapezoids & rhomboids. Sitting in the chair at a 45ish angle puts a lot less stress on my shoulders. And the chair massage has harder, faster, jerkier movements which my muscles really respond to. Smooth gliding movements with oil don't seem to relax the muscles as fast. Kind of interesting.

Another bit of news...

I saw a psychiatrist yesterday and was diagnosed with ADD. I’ve had this all my life but since I wasn’t hyper it wasn’t caught. Girls usually get by better in school and have excess daydreaming instead of hyperactivity. It was finally starting to interfere with my plans for my career and with personal projects in my life. I had read an article about adult ADD a while back and thought, that kind of sounds like me. Then after my recent panic/anxiety issues, I thought more about it and set up an appointment for evaluation.

The psychiatrist was very nice and easy to talk to. It turns out that my motion sickness, anxiety, and extreme fatigue are less known side effects of untreated ADD. He gave me some CDs and books to read for more information which should be really interesting.

I now have a prescription for Adderal and have to experiment which dose works well for me. I’m supposed to take it in the morning, let it wear off mid day, then take another dose. Allowing the medication to wear off lets me learn how I feel when it’s working and when it has worn off. This helps with adjusting the dosage and giving me a sense of control over how I feel/perform.

I took my first pill yesterday afternoon to see how it affected me before I took it at work : ) The first thing I noticed was that all the objects in my apartment were a little more in focus. 2nd I realized that I wasn’t squinting. I’ve been squinting a lot the last couple of years but my eye prescription is correct. 3rd I wasn’t as tired and my muscles weren’t as tense as just an hour before. Tuesday is the first day I’ll take it at work. We’ll see how it helps me focus during the slow part of the consumer product cycle.

Here is a link to the Amen clinic’s online test for ADD.
http://www.amenclinics.com/ac/tests/add_test1.php
This link is for the online test to determine of which 6 ADD subtypes “you” possibly have. Very interesting.
http://www.amenclinics.com/ac/tests/subtype_test1.php

Side note: I went to two pharmacies with my prescription with no luck. They didn’t have it and couldn’t get it for at least a week. I then went home and started calling pharmacies until I found one that had it in stock then rushed over. I felt like a druggie needing a fix : ) And I have never taken it before! I was just really excited and anxious to try the medication to see some improvement.

Montana in the spring

Had a great trip to Montana for my cousin Christopher’s wedding reception. The one drawback was my cousin Kirsten was not able to come to Montana and I was looking forward to seeing her. It was great talking to the family though and the Bride’s family was great. I may have some visitors soon too! Chris & Erin as well as Erin’s two brothers may be passing through SF in the next month.

Montana was interesting and the weather cleared up for the last day so we did get to see pictures of the mountains.

The Bride and Groom!


Me and my Cousin!



Here is a link to more pictures of family and Montana!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/picturesofsharon/sets/72157600062118014/

Embedded Systems Conference

Went to three classes, two of them worth it, at the Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose. Static Analyzers and Logical Analyzers in the Debugging Track.

The best part was the Intel Address with Orange County Choppers. They rode out a motorcycle designed with intel. It was pretty cool! All three OCC stars were there!

Back to being a kid...

Sunday, after a day of cleaning & organizing, the dogs and I headed to Marin to go hiking. The hike was pretty easy with lots of meadows. And two to three large rocks to boulder on. Then I hiked up further and caught amazing views of SF and the Bay. Absolutely gorgeous.

On the way back the trail went through a few groves of trees. I don't know what these trees are...but I want to climb them so bad. They would be perfect forts if I were a kid again. I did give in to temptation and climb this tree : ) My faithful & loyal dog followed me...

More pictures here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/picturesofsharon/sets/72157600043176651/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/picturesofsharon/sets/